As I look towards the fall and starting an Ann Arbor-focused church planting cooperative called Planting in Tree Town, one of the things that I’m starting to think about is the level of co-operation between the different churches and organizations involved. Of the people on my radar so far, I would categorize them all as broadly Evangelical, but there are differences as far as church polity, Reformed vs. Arminian understanding of salvation, and others. At some level, co-operation may be simply praying together, encouraging one another, and sharing resources. Might there be possibilities for actual co-operation in planting? Possibly, but that will require determining what are the non-negotiable issues that would prevent partnership. Tyler Jones, of Vintage21 in Raleigh, recently talked with Scott Thomas of Acts 29 about Vintage’s level of relationships with other organizations in their city. These are helpful categories and could provide a framework for our work here in Ann Arbor.

1. Family
   • Have the same “DNA” – agree theologically on the authority of Scripture, Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and what that accomplished, etc.
   • Can plant churches together
   • Highest level of sharing resources and interaction
2. Friends
   • Christians who clearly love Jesus.
   • Have differing views on things like church polity, etc., which affect how closely they can work together.
   • Some activities and resource sharing is possible.
3. Partners
   • Ministries that may not be Christians at all.
   • Often social justice groups.
   • Provides an opportunity for evangelism to happen with those who they are serving alongside as well as those they are serving directly.

Elders lead the church. The main Biblical passages about their qualifications are 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-10. Specifically, 1 Timothy 3:6 reads

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil

Since an elder must not be a recent convert, it stands to reason that elders must be tested and examined. This something many churches do not do when they appoint as elders good speakers or good business vs. holy Christians. Some churches have an examination process for elder candidates. Some of my bros in my Re:Train cohort are going through elder training at Mars Hill Church and I think it’s a year-long process. Coram Deo in Omaha, Nebraska has a  “6-month course of study and discussion” towards becoming an elder that “culminates with the examination phase.” Here’s the description of that phase written by Lead Pastor/Elder Bob Thune.

• Written essays outlining spiritual history, practice of spiritual disciplines, theological influences, leadership strengths and weaknesses, and understanding/articulation of the gospel
• A 3-hour written exam testing Bible comprehension and pastoral wisdom. For example: “What is the significance of Colossians 1 and 2 to our understanding of Christology?” And: “How would you comfort and encourage a couple at Coram Deo who just miscarried 9 weeks into pregnancy? What biblical passages would you take them to?” And: “A non-Christian in your MC asserts that he is a pretty moral person and, to his knowledge, has never broken one of the Ten Commandments. What Scripture passages would you take him to in order to show him that sin does not consist merely in outward acts?”
• A full review of stewardship, budget, debt and family finances by the CD Financial Team
• An oral assessment that tests “on-the-spot” Bible knowledge, theological acuity, and pastoral discernment
• A husband/wife interview assessing family health, marriage and parenting practices, conflict resolution, etc.
• A major theological position paper interacting with some current topic in church life (Coram Deo’s current position papers on Poverty and on Divorce and Remarriage are the fruit of past elder examinations)

It’s our desire to raise up men who 1) meet the biblical qualifications for eldership in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and 2) have the full faith and trust of the entire Coram Deo community. This examination phase is a key step toward that end. Please pray for the men who are in the midst of it right now. And pray that God will raise up many more!

I’m very grateful that Bob posted this. It’s an excellent model to follow as I look to plant and raise up elders. It’s also very close to the same material that my Acts 29 application included, which makes sense, since every elder should be qualified to plant a church.

From Winfield Bevins

Lesson 1: The Family is a Church

The Puritans believed and taught that your family is your church. Every man has a responsibility to pastor his wife and his children.  Jonathan Edwards said, “Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his rules. And family education and order are some of the chief means of grace.” George Whitefield said, “A man ought to look upon himself as obliged to act in three capacities:

As a prophet, to instruct:
As a priest, to pray for and with;
As a king, to govern, direct, and provide for them.”

Lesson 2: Love Your Wife as Christ Loved the Church

Pastoring your family begins with loving your wife as Christ loved the church. Through our marriage, we are examples of the gospel to our children and to our church.

Lesson 3: Family is the Seminary of the Church

Puritan Thomas Manton said, “A family is the seminary of the church.” The Puritans believed that the home was the primary place of learning the Bible and moral instruction. They also believed that it was a parent’s spiritual responsibility to disciple and teach their children about the faith.  The Bible instructs us, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).  It is important for children to begin learning about God and the Bible at home.

Thomas Doolittle said, “Masters of families ought to read the Scripture to their families and instruct their children and servants in the matters and doctrines of salvation. Therefore, they are to pray in and with their families. No man that will not deny the Scripture can deny the unquestionable duty of reading the Scripture in our houses, governors of families teaching and instructing them out of the Word of God.”

Lesson 4: Regularly Practice a Family Day Off (this has personally saved my marriage and my ministry)

For the Puritans that day off was synonymous with family. Many church planters fail to take a day off by justifying their great ministry need. We are not leading our family well unless we take time to be together without work lingering in the background. This is a common sin that ministers need to repent for not keeping.

Ministers are burning out at an unbelievable rate. Nearly 90% of pastors feel overworked and 50% of those who go into fulltime service drop out in 5 years. Spiritual burnout occurs when we don’t give ourselves time to rest from our daily routine. Puritans were a great example for spiritual rest because they had a rhythm of work and rest and service and worship.

Lesson 5: We are Responsible to God for the Proper Stewardship of our Families

Puritans taught the gravity of the responsibility of shepherding your family. We are stewards of our families. Let us not sin in this area, let us repent for not leading well. Thomas Doolittle said, “If God be the Founder, Owner, Governor, and Benefactor of families, then families are jointly to worship God and pray unto Him.”

I’ve been told by my Re:Train coach, Cliff Low, that the best use of my time is developing leaders. Much easier said than done, however. When developing leaders, you need a plan and you need to make it a priority. When planning, you should ask “What are the

1. Requirements from Scripture (For example, what do 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 say?)
2. Requirements from your Denomination or Network (For example, what does it mean to be an elder in a Presbyterian, Baptist, or an Acts 29 church?)
3. Requirements from your context and church (For example, what does it mean to be an elder at my church, at this time, this stage, this size, in this part of this specific city?)

Scott Thomas of the Acts 29 Network recently published a study guide that is very useful in training and raising up new leaders. Here’s an overview of the guide.

This study guide is an interactive curriculum of the book, Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) written by Wayne A. Grudem and edited by Elliot Grudem.

Christian Beliefs (160 pages) is a condensed version of Grudem’s book, Bible Doctrine (528 pages), and that itself is a condensed version of Grudem’s award-winning Systematic Theology (1,290 pages).* This guide is designed to introduce Christians to the core beliefs of Bible doctrine in preparation for church leadership or to help new Christians to distinguish truth from error. This guide can be used to prepare elders, deacons, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers and all those who want to learn more about maturing in their Christian faith and becoming equipped to give a gentle and respectful answer to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). An instructor in a class or small group or in a one to one environment can facilitate the questions or it can be utilized as a self-study or as a tool to equip a family in Biblical doctrine.

Theological Clarity and Application seeks to preserve the contents of Grudem’s Christian Beliefs by using questions to stimulate further understanding and application. The participants in this curriculum would benefit by first reading each chapter in Christian Beliefs before answering questions. It is also highly recommended to have a respected study Bible and a copy of Grudem’s Systematic Theology available for reference.

Each chapter of this guide corresponds to the chapters in Christian Beliefs. At the end of each section, a prayer text and Scripture memory is included. Additionally, a reference to the corresponding chapters and supplementary readings in Grudem’s Systematic Theology are included as well as further readings by noted conservative scholars and authors who contribute to the specific topic covered in the chapter.

This material is not something that should be rushed through to complete. It is a refrigerated locker full of meat that must be eaten regularly and systematically one meal at a time, allowing ample time to chew and digest the information and ideally to savor with others. One can complete the study in 20 weeks by covering one chapter a week or complete it in 40 weeks (approximately one school year) by covering one chapter every two weeks. The latter allows for a deeper reading of the accompanying Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.

You can download it here

• B&W Questions Only (63 pages),
• B&W Workbook (color cover) 91 pages,
• Color Questions Only
• Color Workbook

Justin Taylor recently shared comments from Matt Perman about the differences between strengths, skills, and talents.

1. People should make sure not to confuse “what I’m good at” with “what my strengths are.” Your strengths are what make you feel strong. If something is a strength, you are also good at it. But you can be good at something that you hate doing. That is not a strength, and shouldn’t receive your focus.
2. This shows more specifically what role the individual has to play in discerning his or her calling—for nobody but the individual knows what he or she really enjoys. The community is critical in identifying “misyearnings”—things you enjoy but are bad at. That then needs to be integrated with something that only the individual can asses—your own awareness of what you find most energizing.
3. It’s worth noting that lack of skill can often be confused for lack of talent. The community of advisers needs to keep this in mind. Talent can be defined as the innate ability that allows you to do something well. This is a basic feature of one’s personality and isn’t chosen. Skills, on the other hand, can be learned. If you have talent but lack skills, you might not be very good yet. So people might encourage you to go in another direction, but in reality you could get the skills and, combined with your talents, become very effective.
4. Strength in something comes from talent, skill, and knowledge. The key to developing a strength is to add knowledge and skill where you have talent. Your talent multiplies the effect of those skills and knowledge, resulting in a much greater effect than adding them in areas where you lack talent.

Number 1 especially hits home to me. One of the topics of discussion during my Acts 29 Assessment was my gifting, as assessed by entrepreneurial and DISC assessments, and how I seemed probably a better fit for a #2 guy vs. a lead planter. One of my responses was the fact that administrative stuff comes very naturally to me, but I don’t enjoy it, it doesn’t bring me joy. I’m looking for opportunities at Grace and beyond to minister in areas that are both strengths and passions and I am praying that God would speak to me through those and direct my path.

During our most recent Re:Train class, Scott Thomas, director of the Acts 29 Church Planting network, shared about his formal accountability relationship with five pastors, four of whom focus on specific areas of his life (Leadership, Marriage and Family, Theology and Personal Revival, Professional) and one of whom looks at the whole picture. Here are forty questions that Dr. Bruce Wesley asked Scott with regard to Leadership.

Self Leadership

1. How are you unique? (calling, gifts, passions, personality, experiences, sin patterns)
2. How do you stay inspired? How often do you practice this?
3. How do you preach the gospel to yourself?  (What’s the message in your mind?)
4. What are the rhythms of grace in your life? (scripture practices, worship, community, Sabbath)
5. What idols are calling for your worship?
6. How do you forsake each idol?
7. What are the lies that you believe in your head?
8. How is the gospel applied to those lies?

Interpersonal Leadership

1. Who gets you and why? Who are your guys? (2 Timothy 2:2)
2. Who do you pray for?  What are you praying for them?
3. Who are you considering to become one of your guys and what is your plan?
4. Are you telling the “truth in love” to your guys, consistently?  When do you tend to “spin” something?
5. Are you “on time” and following through with promises?
6. Do you say “yes” and “no” with clarity? Who are the people you tend to “please” and why?
7. How are you discipling each of your children and your spouse?
8. Who KNOWS you?

Organizational Leadership

1. What mission and vision has God entrusted to you?
2. Are you aligned to this mission and vision?
3. To what extent is your identity wrapped up in your position or your mission?
4. Where is there “sideways energy” in your life (schedule)?
5. Do people in your organization know with clarity what you expect of them?
6. What do you expect of others in your organization?
7. How do assure that each person under your charge connects expectations to mission?
8. In what ways do you personify vision and values?
9. What opportunities did you decline for the sake of mission, vision or values?
10. What are the stories that define the culture of your organization?  How do you capture these stories?  How are the stories being shared?

Team Leadership

1. Who is your team?  (Roles, Styles)
2. Who is going to replace you?
3. How do you demonstrate your love for each team member?
4. What dysfunctions on your team are you addressing?
5. With whom do you sense the most synergy?  How can you maximize that?
6. With whom do you sense the least synergy?  Why? How are you minimizing that?
7. Who do you struggle to trust?  Why?  Do you address issues of trust with them?  Why or why not?
8. What inspires each team member?  (Ask each one, “What aspect of your work brings you the most joy?  What stories do you tend to tell most often?)
9. Do team members feel empowered to exercise their greatest gifts and talents on the team?

Pastoral Leadership

1. What does faithfulness in your calling look like for you?
2. In what new areas are you learning to apply the gospel?
3. Describe your system for managing your availability and “interruptability.”
4. How do you develop men by involving them in ministry and making decisions?
5. What opportunities have you had / taken to herald the gospel in serving others?

Day 1 of the Acts 29 Boot Camp is over. It was a great day. Julie and I met people from all over the country and heard some powerful talks. Here’s a brief recap of what I heard. The notes aren’t going to be verbatim, mostly quotes

Session #1: “The Gospel & Ambition” – Dave Harvey

Passage: John 12-27-32, 32b-43. Some great quotes

• “Loving the glory that comes from God means loving Jesus”
• “Glory that comes from God demands a pursuit”
• “The pursuit of God’s glory is the basis of Godly ambition”
• “The search for approval is over because of the cross?
• “Ambition is from, not for, a position of approval from God”
• “Ambition should lead us to explore new opportunities to glorify God”
• We should be unwilling to settle for a completed goal

Ambition is

1. Perceiving the value of something – we’ll never ben ambitious for what we don’t value
2. Prizing what we perceive
3. Pursuing

Session #2: “The Evangelism of Church Planting” – Ed Stetzer

Wow. This was an amazing talk. This one is Julie’s favorite and could be mine. Incredibly challenging. He told us again and again and again that we need to evangelize.

Passage:  2 Timothy 4:1-5.

Evangelism in church planting is

• Action: Do
• Labor: The work of an evangelism
• Focus: do your work evangelistically

Luther said “God doesn’t need your good works but your neighbor does”

• “Do good works. Be, do, and tell Good News”
• Invitationalism is a problem. People should not bring people to you to find Jesus

Session #3: “The Church & Ambition” – Steve Timmis

Passage: Romans 15

He spoke on Paul’s ambition for Christ, the church, and the lost as represented by his call to the local church, Spain, and Jerusalem

Session #4: “Leadership & Ambition” – Darrin Patrick

Darrin spoke this one directly to the men in attendance who are church planters or want to be. He really drilled us about the need to discern ourselves and raise up young leaders

Passage: 2 Timothy 2:1-6

1. Paul discerned how he was gifted and helped others discern theirs. Paul was bold, evangelistic, and visionary (Acts 20:24). We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3)
   We need to worship and serve to find out how we’re design
   Look at the three aspects of Jesus – Prophet, Priest, and King
2. Live life with young leaders you’re trying to develop
   1. Talk regularly about your sins and fears (1 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 4:9-13)
      1. Don’t use your pulpit as a confessional
   2. Praise them publicly
      1. 2 Corinthians 8:16-23
      2. direct and indirect praise
      3. You can’t over-compliment young leaders
   3. Put young leaders in challenging situations with oversight
      1. Delegation not abdication
   4. Get and give young leaders feedback
   5. Push them to repent of their sin and believe the Gospel specifically
      1. 1 Timothy 4:12, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Titus 2:15 all deal with fear of man issues

“You can influence from afar, but you can only impact up close”

Church Planting from the Ground Up

Session #1: Gather & Develop – Kevin Jamison

Kevin is a church planter in Middletown, OH who will be one of Julie and my assessors’s on Thursday. This talk was incredibly practical and answered many of the questions that I’ve been think about with regards to gathering a core group.

II. Develop

Core development is pastoring

Develop Yourself:

• Pastor your family
• Watch your language
  • don’t dog your core
  • Use “we”
• Watch your price
• Set the pace with repentance
• Give your wife permission to be painfully honest

Develop Your Core:

The importance of both Formal and Informal Gatherings

Formal

• Teach & discuss
• pray
• sing
• meets weekly
• still be involved in local church

Informal

• Hang out
• Get to know

A Common Language = common theology

• Clarify and define what words mean

A Common Mission

• Help people take ownership of the mission
• Ask others how we can reach their friends and familes

A Common Vision

• Practical
• “What would it look like it if the invisible kingdom were made visible in your city?”

I. Gather

• Not an open door policy, be selective
• Have people commit – sign a covenant

Who to Gather:

• New Christians to the area
• People that are F.A.T (Faithful, Available, adn Teachable)
• People on a upward trajectory with their faith, regardless of age

Who to Avoid:

• Wolves
• Thieves
• People who are skeptical
• Taking people from churches that are growing and thriving

Where to Look:

• Relational Networks
• Partnering Churches

Final Advice

• Wait for a public launch until you have 70-75
• Go slow

Assessor and Assessee Dinner

Our day closed with a dinner with the other couples being assessed and the guys who are doing the assessment. Julie and I enjoyed getting to know Kevin, Nick, and Jerry. It was encouraging to hear their heart for us and to know that they’re praying for us. Their pastoral concern for Julie and my marriage and family is a wonderful expression of the love to be found between brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scott Thomas also shared with us the rating scale for the assessments. It’s

1. Recommended
2. Recommended with conditions
3. Potential with strong conditions
4. Not recommended

He shared some of the criteria that plays into a 4 (theology problems, financial problems, marital problems). The process is a little less daunting after tonight, but there is plenty of time left for me to get nervous. I have a gut feeling what our score will be, but I’ll save that for later …

The Acts 29 Network application process has taken some time and the actual boot camp itself and assessment have always seemed to be far off. Well, they are no longer in the distant future, they’re next week! We got an updated schedule yesterday and the names of our assessors. If I had to assemble a list of godly men that I would like to hear in person at a boot camp, I would have a hard time coming up with a better list than this

• Session #1: “The Gospel & Ambition” – Dave Harvey (responsible for church care, church planting, and international expansion for Sovereign Grace Ministries)
• Session #2: “Church Planting & Ambition” – Ed Stetzer (author, President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence, Re:Train professor)
• Session #3: “The Church & Ambition” – Steve Timmis (author of Total Church, director of Acts 29 Network in Western Europe)
• Session #4: “Leadership & Ambition” – Darrin Patrick (lead pastor of The Journey in St. Louis)
• Session #5: ”Decoding your City & Ambition” – Kevin Cawley (Preaching Pastor & Directional Leader at Redeemer Fellowship in Kansas City and fellow Wheaton alumnus)
• Session #6: “Discipleship & Ambition” – Bob Thune (Lead Pastor/Elder at Coram Deo in Omaha, NE)
• Session #7: Preaching & Ambition. “Speaking Past Demons: Christian Preaching as Expository Exorcism”– Russell Moore (Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church, author of Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches. Get it and read it now!)
• Session #8: “Ministry for the Long Haul & Ambition” – Matt Chandler (Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Dallas, TX)

After the Boot Camp is over, Julie and I will be assessed by Acts 29 Pastors and their wives for 2 hours before I fly to Seattle for our next Re:Train class, Missional Missiology taught by Ed Stetzer. Our assessors are

• Kevin & Stephanie Jamison from The Oaks Community Church in Middletown, OH
• Nick Nye from Veritas Community Church in Columbus, OH
• Jerry Funston from The Journey Fellowship in Sunbury, OH (Cedarvile grad Yeah! Buckeye fan Boo)

I’m excited to meet them and for Julie and I to be examined by people who know what the life of a church planter is like. While I believe that God is specifically and clearly calling me and us to plant a church in Ann Arbor, MI, I welcome the input, direction, and guidance that comes through the assessment process and will take the outcome very seriously. Should our assessment uncover problematic areas that may make us ill-suited for church planting, we will prayerfully and earnestly seek God about the path to which He is calling us and endeavor to trust Him in all things.

The word “missional” is everywhere. Grad Schools. Books. Blogs. It colored my conversation last week with a pastor at Grace Bible. I’ll probably talk about it Friday night over dinner and definitely next week at the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Louisville. It can be a hard word to define, however. Missional means the act of being a missionary, but people can have pretty rigid preconceptions of what a missionary does, especially since most people have never lived as missionaries. If you’ve ever spent time talking to people involved in international missions, it can be hard and tiring work, bearing fruit infrequently and with much difficulty. People don’t want to think of themselves as missionaries because they want the easy way out. They want a program, not a life.

Jonathan Dodson of Austin City Life is currently writing a series on his blog about Why People Aren’t More Missional. Read it. His ideas are challenging and gospel-centered and his recent breakout session at the 2009 Acts 29 Houston Boot Camp could be my favorite talk from all the Acts 29 events, and I’ve listened to all but 3 of them.

Here’s Part 1 of the series

Do you ever struggle in motivation for mission? Do you ever see your people lacking in motivation for mission? After all the shifts in ecclesiology, the planting of many churches, and the landslide of missional literature, why aren’t people more missional? Perhaps it is because we are motivating them with the wrong things.

What should motivate us for mission? There are numerous motivations for mission in the Bible. Many of them can be grouped under three headings that point us to the goal of the gospel, the demands of the gospel, the graces of the gospel. In this first post, I’ll address our missional identity.

Missional Identity

The missio Dei, a Latin phrase meaning, “the sending of God”, reminds us that mission is not merely something we do, an action; it is something God is. Mission is an attribute of God. He’s a sending God. He sends his Son (Easter) and sends his Spirit (Pentecost) to renew the world. So, mission doesn’t start and end with us. It starts and ends with God. His mission is nothing short of the redemption of peoples and cultures, the renewal of all creation for his own glory. It’s God’s great, burdensome, and glorious mission—the renewal of all creation! My goodness, we can’t manage that, but God, in his mercy has invited us to participate in his mission. Through the gospel, He rescues us from a life of self-serving mission to participate in a life of God-serving, Christ-glorifying mission. We are remade into missional people by the redeeming work of the Spirit and the Son.

Therefore, if we are in Christ, we have a missionary identity. We are adopted into a missionary family. We serve a missionary God. Mission becomes part of our identity, because we cut from the cloth of a missionary God. So, the church is a missionary church, with missionary people, that do missionary things. It is who we are and it is also what we do. Mission is not merely for the superspiritual, an option, an appendix to Christian faith. To be Christian is to be on mission.  It’s who we are and it is what we do. We redemptively engage peoples and cultures, by sharing, showing, and embodying Christ in our context. This includes evangelism, social action, and cultural engagement, counseling, empathy, celebration. It’s bringing the renewing power of the whole gospel into the whole city.

Now, the good news of the gospel is that we get to be the blessing of mission, while God carries the burden of mission. Ultimately, it is God’s mission. The Spirit does all the changing; we simply share, show, and embody the wonderfully renewing power of gospel. However, if we aren’t walking with God, keeping in step with the Spirit, and following Christ, out life will hardly be missional. In fact, it will be rife with dangerous disobedience. If you are in Christ, you have a missional identity. To disregard your missionary identity is to reject your identity in Christ. The first motivation is the missio Dei, that mission is in our DNA, our identity. It is who we are in God, through Christ, by the Spirit.

Here’s Part 2

Despite the preponderance of missional church resources, American Christians are slow to live missionally. Why is this? In our last post, we suggested that one reason is that we are motivating the church with best practices of mission, instead of an identity of mission grounded in the Missio Dei. Today, I’d like to suggest another motivation, with a twist.

Any evangelical can tell you that they are supposed to be on mission, but very few are. They can rattle off the Great Commission by memory, while running along no differently. Yet, all four Gospels contain missional mandates from the resurrected, King Jesus himself (Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24/Acts 1, John 16/21)! Why does missional disobedience persist? Perhaps because…

1. We don’t take Jesus seriously. Jesus is our friend, not our Lord.
   
2. We think the missional mandates are for apostles or super Christians only.
3. We have a functional God that we like more than Jesus.
   
4. We believe that mission is optional and that we won’t be judged for our missional disobedience.
5. We don’t actually believe the gospel.

I love the church. I’ve been a part of it almost my whole life and I can bear witness to how God has changed me through it. That is why I’m very excited about our Re:Train class in two days – Missional Ecclesiology, taught by Southern Seminary professor Gregg Allison. The books we read in the pre-class work were engaging and challenging and I’m looking forward to in-class discussions that could find people in different camps (things like elder-ruled vs. elder-led, congregationalism, infant baptism, etc). As a primer for class, Dr. Allison has posted articles for the past two days on TheResurgence.com detailing six characteristics of the missional church.

The first article deals with trinitarian aspects of the church

1. Doxological: Oriented to the Glory of God

The church is doxological, or oriented to the glory of God. Like everything else that God has created—the heavens and the earth (Psalm 19:1; Psalm 108:5), the angelic realm (Psalm 29:1-2), and human beings as the divine image-bearers (Psalm 8:5), the church is characterized by an orientation to give God glory (Ephesians 3:21).

Specifically, the church is to be orthodoxological, or oriented to the proper (Gr. ortho) glory (Gr. doxa) of God. Implied in this imperative is the possibility for the church to engage in false glory giving, or idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:20-21; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4). Manifestations of the church’s false gods include money, power, societal approbation, its pastor or its programs, political persuasion, size, and the like. The church must avoid such idolatry and be oriented to the proper glory of God.

2. Logocentric: Focused on the Word

The church is logocentric, or focused on the logos, the Word, understood in two senses to refer to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and Scripture, the inspired Word of God. As for the first sense, the eternal Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, took on the fullness of human nature and became the incarnate God-man, Jesus Christ John 1:1, John 1:14). He promised, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), and he is its cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20) and its head (Ephesians 1:20-23). The church is centered on this incarnate Word of God.

In the second sense of logos, the church is Word-centered in that it focuses on Scripture, the inspired Word of God. This inspired, sufficient, necessary, truthful (inerrant), clear, authoritative, and productive Word announces salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), brings new birth (1 Peter 1:23), ignites faith (Romans 10:13-17), presents sound doctrine and equips the church for good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and, while providing cohesion and nourishment for the church, also destabilizes it by confronting its many sins. The church is centered on this inspired Word of God.

3. Pneumadynamic: Empowered by the Spirit

The church is pneumadynamic, or created, gathered, gifted, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He inaugurated the first church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-5), and this church in Jerusalem multiplied and expanded through the evangelistic centrifugal movement orchestrated by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). In these churches, the Spirit distributes spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11) for “the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7), while also being the creator and sustainer of unity (Ephesians 4:3) by supplying genuine love among church members (Romans 15:30; Colossians 1:8) and fostering an atmosphere of righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). Certain members are installed as leaders in the church by the appointment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28; Acts 13:2-3). Thus, the church is Spirit-activated.

The second article deals with the “gatheredness and sendedness of the church”.

4. Covenantal: Relationship with God and Others

The church is covenantal, or gathered as members in new covenant relationship with God and in covenant relationship with each other. As for the first covenantal aspect, the new covenant:

1. is a unilateral agreement, established by God and God alone
2. creates a structured relationship between him and his covenant partners, Christ-followers “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9)
3. features binding obligations on the part of both God and his covenant partners (e.g., 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:19-10; Galatians 6:2)
4. is sealed by two covenantal signs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

As for the second covenantal aspect, the new covenant places church members into relationship with one another (Ephesians 4:17-5:14). This aspect may be best expressed by means of a church covenant, an agreement that binds those who affirm it to life together in the church.

5. Confessional: United by Common Faith

The church is confessional, or united by both personal confession of faith in Christ and common confession of the historic Christian faith. All church members must have a credible profession of faith in Christ as they have heard about his person and work through the gospel (Romans 10:8-13). This aspect is the act of faith that leads to salvation.

Additionally, the church as a corporate assembly regularly makes a common confession of the Christian faith (e.g., 1 Timothy 3:15-16), professing together the sound doctrine that unites the church (Ephesians 4:4-6) and brings it to maturity while keeping it from going adrift (Ephesians 4:13-15). This aspect is the content of the Christian faith that marks the church throughout the ages.

6. Missional: Divinely Called and Sent

As discussed above, the church is missional, or identified as the body of divinely-called and divinely-sent ministers to proclaim the gospel and advance the kingdom of God.

7. Historical Reality, Future Hope

The church is spatio-temporal-eschatological (here and not-here, oralready but not yet), or assembled as a historical reality (located in space and time) and possessing a certain hope and clear destiny (eschatology) while it lives the strangeness of its existence in the here-and-now. Christians meet together to worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24) in local churches that, while they may be anywhere (that is, the location is not the issue; John 4:20-21), they are always somewhere also. This spatial characteristic means that the church takes up physical space—often a building—and prompts reflection on an important question: Does this physical space advance or obstruct what the church is seeking to be and do?

Legacy

The temporal element means that a church has a heritage that goes before the current manifestation of gathered people, and this legacy exerts a powerful influence for either good or bad on the current expression of the church. Additionally, if the Lord wills, the church will have a future that goes beyond the current manifestation of gathered people, and this hope prompts reflection on what kind of reputation this current expression of the church will bequeath to its next iteration.

Sojourners

Beyond its being “here,” the church is also “not here,” in that what the church experiences now is only a foretaste, a down payment, of a promise of yet more to come. The church lives in a “boundary epoch” between the two advents of Jesus Christ, so it is composed of strangers and aliens (1 Peter 1:11), sojourners who are in the world and for the world, but not of the world. The eschatological church awaits a greater reality (Revelation 21-22).